Of Sodas and Liquor
by EveningSongEnchantment
Summary: The Black Organization has been disbanded, and now it's back to normal life. But not everyone is content with life as it is...Shinichi/Haibara friendship. One-shot.


Kudo Shinichi could hardly believe that it was over. After years of uneventful leads and climactic confrontations with the Black Organization it was finally over. Now here he was, sitting in a restaurant with his old high school friends like a normal teenager. It still felt strange, to be sitting in his booth watching them all congregate and talk. So strange that he had to have little space for a few minutes. That's why he was sitting alone, sipping his soft drink while deep in thought.

No one really knew the truth about what Shinichi had been up to the past few years. Ran had an inkling, but he felt that it wasn't time to tell her everything quite yet. She just seemed happy enough to have him back.

He felt the same way. Normal life wasn't so bad. Sure, he had the occasional case that he couldn't resist, but for the most part he was content with spending the majority of his time with her. To see her smile, to be able to talk to her like his best friend without having to worry about what she would find out…that was all he had ever wanted the whole time he had been wrapped up in the case of the Black Organization.

Shinichi, smiled and waved at her as she stood laughing with Sonoko. She smiled back and continued to talk animatedly with her friend. Looking down at his drink, Shinichi mused further about the past few years. To think, one harmless act of curiosity could throw all their lives into a tail-spin and launch him into a world-wide affecting case. This case had been big. Really big. It had been a case of unimaginable twists and turns and dangers. But it was finally over.

Suddenly, Shinichi heard footsteps behind him which stopped next to his booth. Looking up he was surprised to see Haibara Ai in her adult form standing beside him. Momentarily at a loss for words, he just stared at her. Haibara's eyes shifted to the empty seat across from him and then to his friends.

"Is it alright if I sit down?" she asked.

Shinichi blinked. "Y-yeah, of course!"

Nodding, his friend and long-time partner on the Black Organization case took her seat and then glanced behind her at the milling teenagers.

"It must be nice," she commented, still staring at the students, "having your normal life back."

Shinichi couldn't help but agree and grunted his assent. But it was strange, even though his life was now like the one he had had before his first encounter with the Black Organization, it was not unchanged. He knew things…about the world, about Ran, about himself! He would forever be looking over his shoulder too, despite the fact that the Organization had been disbanded.

Haibara must have known what he was thinking because she leaned over and, looking straight into his eyes said, "Your life will never be the same. You know that, don't you?"

Shinichi blinked again, slightly disturbed but then put on his arrogant mask.

"Idiot!" he said to her, "Of course I know that!"

He turned away, still acting tough but in truth he was still a bit uncomfortable. However, Shinichi was unwilling to show weakness to Haibara.

Haibara just shrugged and leaned back, staring at him a little longer before saying: "I'm leaving."

_Eh? _Shinichi's head whipped around, his eyes wide in surprise. Then berated himself for his actions.

_Idiot! _He told himself. _Of course she's leaving! You should have seen this before, it's the obvious thing for her to do._

Still, he had been hoping she would do otherwise. Sighing, Shinichi leaned back in his seat also, leaning against the back of the booth.

"I suppose I expected nothing else," he said softly. Then, looking her in the eye he continued, "But you know you don't have to run away anymore, right?"

Haibara stared at him for a moment before looking out the window, a far-away look in her eyes.

"Unlike you, I never had anything to go back to once I changed to my original identity," she whispered quietly. "You had Ran—I had nobody. There was no real reason for me to want things to change. It didn't matter whether I was Haibara Ai or Shiho Miyano. The fact was, there was nobody waiting for me…"

Haibara sighed sadly, leaning on her hand as she continued to stare out the window.

"And I never suppose my situation will change," she said with conviction, "I will always be _her—_Sherry of the Black Organization. There's no escaping it."

Shinichi was speechless, staring at his friend with his mouth hanging open. _Why—?_

He was jolted from his unfinished thought as Haibara suddenly rose. She turned to leave, but paused saying one last thing: "Good-bye, Kudo Shinichi."

With that, Haibara lowered her head and quickly made for the exit, leaving Shinichi to stare after her in something of a daze. Looking back down at his soda, something about what Haibara said triggered a memory…

_They were in a dark, locked room, he and Haibara. They had been caught temporarily by one of the Black Organization's goons and were trying to find a way out. As Conan patted down the walls on his side Haibara suddenly sat down with a huff._

"_It's no use," she said. "We're going to have to find a way out when he comes back."_

_Not giving up his search, Conan moved to the other wall, but looked back at his friend. Seeing her like that made him angry. _

"_Hey!" he shouted at her. "You can't give up now! We haven't searched the whole room yet!"_

"_And what good would it do?" Haibara demanded heatedly. "This is the Organization! They don't make it easy for prisoners to escape!"_

"_Well they've never had me as a prisoner, now have they?"_

_Haibara snorted, then lowered her head to her knees which were drawn up against her small chest. "That cockiness is what will get you killed someday, if we ever get out of this." _

_Conan searched one more wall without success and began roving about the room, thinking of other possibilities. But he stopped as he passed by Haibara. She was staring at the wall with an empty look in her eyes._

_Taking pity on her, he decided that he could give up his search for now and see what was really bothering her. Sighing, he sat down next to his friend. There was complete silence for a moment and then…_

"_It's not just being locked up in here, is it?" _

_Haibara looked up in surprise, turning to him with her questioning gaze. _

_Conan leaned up against the wall with his arms behind his head, resting them on the cold stone behind him. Looking up at the ceiling, he went on._

"_You're thinking about something else," he said. "Something about the Organization—something about _you_."_

_Haibara stared at him for a few seconds before giving an ironic smile and lowering her head. Her bangs hid her eyes and more shadows crept over her face as she stared at the floor of their temporary prison in the basement of an apartment building. _

"_That's right," she said softly, not looking up. "I was thinking…about everything that I've done."_

_Her hands began shaking as she continued._

"_By doing what I did after escaping the Organization I put many people at risk. They'll probably still be in danger once I'm dead! The Professor…Ayumi…Genta…Mitsuhiko…all of them! Even you, and everyone around you were in more danger because I was around you!"_

_Conan leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees, mirroring Haibara and looking her direction._

"_They were already in danger," he said, being reasonable. "They were in danger because of me."_

"_Yes!" she cried, "But because I was with you the danger went up twice as much if not ten-fold! I shouldn't have gone to your in the first place. I should have left instead of trying to gain some advantage over the Organization."_

"_And if you hadn't, where would I be?"_

_Haibara looked up, slowly turning her head to meet his eyes. Conan was frowning now, trying to reason with her._

"_If you hadn't come I wouldn't have gotten the leads that I did—"_

"_And put everyone in more danger."_

"_I'm not finished!" he shouted. Then, quieting down he said, "If you hadn't come I probably never would have gotten this far. We're so close, Haibara! So close to bringing them down."_

_Haibara was silent. He knew what she was thinking, he hadn't changed a bit. And she was right, but their current situation didn't hide the fact that they were almost ready to take the Black Organization down! If they could just get out of here…if they could just…_

"_I won't give up," he told her before she could say anything. "I won't. Because I have people and a life I want to protect, to get back to! That's what keeps me going."_

_Haibara was silent again and then laughed harshly. "You do. But I don't. I'll always be Sherry of the Black Organization."_

_Conan looked thoughtful. "If you could change that nickname," he began, "what would it be?"_

_She cocked her head, her guarded eyes studying him for a moment before actually giving thought to his question._

"_I always liked Cherry Coke," she stated. _

_Conan brightened, "Well then, maybe I'll call you Cherry Coke from now on!"_

_Haibara blinked, and then laughed. Genuinely laugh. Conan joined her. Of course it was ridiculous, but still…_

Cherry Coke…

Shinichi looked up from the table and across his booth to the bar where a waiter was handing out drinks to some of the teenagers. He saw what he was looking for and grinned. Getting up he quickly ran to the bar and grabbed practically grabbed it out of antoher guy's hands.

"Hey!" came the protest.

"Sorry," Shinichi said, slapping down money on the bar and making his way to the door at a fast pace with his prize.

Once he got outside he quickly scanned the area. There!

Shinichi sprinted over to a car with it's door open, beginning to close.

"Hey! Haibara!" he called.

The door's progress stopped and Haibara rose slightly, looking around it. She brought her hand up just in time to catch the object that was flying at her.

Shinichi stood grinning as she looked at the label.

"You're a soft-drink, Shiho Miyano," he told her. "Not hard liquor." Then, with a satisfied expression on his face he turned and began to walk away.

Haibara looked up at him one last time and then grinned, clutching the object that was his parting gift to her. Maybe she would come back…someday.

And so the young woman named Shiho Miyano left…with her Cherry Coke in hand. 


End file.
